Given all the years I’d trained aggressive dogs, you’d think that if a bite was going to happen, it would have been then. But surprise! It happened this morning at my local park. A man walking ahead of me on the path had three tank-like French bulldogs on leash. As I passed, the white one ran up to me. It behaved like any other social dog. I normally ask permission before petting a dog, but since this one was already at my feet and appeared friendly, my knee-jerk reaction was to bend down...

On my morning walk, I ran into a woman who has a Lab mix I like a lot. The dog likes me as well, as evidenced by the way she normally all but mugs me for petting and attention whenever we meet. Of course, I love it! But this morning, as I casually reached to pet her while chatting with her mom, I noticed her lips retracting horizontally. No hard stare accompanied it, but there was the slightest movement away from my hand. Thankfully, I knew this to be a submissive grin rather than a sign of...

My last blog post was about paying attention to your dog. Now let's look at the other side of the coin: your dog paying attention to you when asked. It's one of the first skills dogs learn. Normally—at least the way I’ve always taught it—a dog is expected to give eye contact when hearing their name. Then, once you have their attention, other cues can be given. I’ve come across trainers who use the dog’s name to mean “come to me and give eye contact,” but I don’t recommend it. Imagine your dog...